THE GAMES DOGGIES PL

THE GAMES DOGGIES PLAY


You all know how important it is for us doggies to play and have our toys.  Well, before I came on this trip to Bolivia I put all my toys into my Mum's suitcase.  I brought a lime green tennis ball, a red rubber ball, a yellow plastic ball with holes in it and two "fossilised" marrow bones - very important those.  I also put in a rubber pull and a rubber bone.  Actually, putting it mildly, I am not keen on rubber toys (apart from balls) but they were arrival gifts from well-meaning friends and I couldn't very well snub them by leaving them behind, could I?

Since we´ve been here in the jungle I have added a few more trophies to the ones I brought.  I have got a worn-out blue bottle brush, a torn piece of llama skin that used to be a small rug, some offcuts of balsa wood from the fence which is nice and light to carry around and an old pair of Mum's shoes.  I keep all my toys in my bed and take them out at judicious intervals to play.  Basically I have two playing times: one first thing in the morning and the other one in the evening.  During the middle of the day the best bet is to find a cool spot and have a lie down.

My days start at 6:30 a.m.  Well, I would get up earlier really, especially now in summer (Here summer is your winter) when it is light at 5:30 but Mum says "Go and lie down now" so I oblige and wait till 6:30.  Then we get up and go for a walk to work up an appetite for breakfast.  I have gone off milk now and prefer yoghurt with active bifidus which is very good for your tummy (Just as well we live on a dairy plant)!  

After breakfast my major activity of the day begins.  I go outside to the garden that has been fenced in for me ( a Yuracaré Indian came and did it) and I sit up on the terrace.  This is a great vantage point and I can see everything that moves.  It is then my self-appointed job to warn of the approach of any strangers  - cows, people, cars, bicycles - especially the dreaded bicycle.  This is a most important task in a country as dangerous as this one.  Nobody approaches our house without my Mum knowing well in advance.  I do this till about 9am and then it is time to rest.

In the evening after dinner I have another bout of activity.  This is when we use my new-found toy which consists of an old cotton jersey tied to a broom-handle.  The idea is that it can be swung around and I run after it and try and catch it.  This is good fun because they change direction and then I have to do pirouettes in the air.  I am getting more expert at it every day, which is why the jersey is getting more and more ragged.  My Mum is not so good at doing this.  I have to wait for Dad to come home if I want a really good chase.  Sometimes he gives me a session before he goes off in the morning and before I start my vigilante session.  We are both very busy people, you know.

I would like Paddy to join in my chasing games but he only joins in if he thinks I am getting too much attention. Then he comes rushing up looking like he is going to play too, but the very minute I start racing around he just goes and lies back down again.  Not much fun that.  Well, it isn't really his fault: he never learned to play when he was young because he was rescued from the dog´s home where he spent all his puppyhood locked up in a pen.

It´s the same thing when we go to the river.  I love to rush in and swim around but Paddy won't even stand near the edge.  To give you an idea of how loathe he is to get his feet wet, he won´t even walk on the floor when it has just been washed.  I love doing that! - particularly when I have got muddy paws because then I can see my pawmarks making nice patterns everywhere.  There should be plenty of opportunity to do this from now on because the rainy seasons is about to begin - Yippee!

Saludos from far away

Simon